Time of Ending
during the Time of Ending.]] The Time of Ending is the name given to a troubled era of the Age of the Imperium that lasted from ca. 744.M41 to ca. 999.M41. It was a period marked by rapidly growing threats to the stability of the Imperium of Man, as newly-encountered xenos species like the T'au, Necrons and Tyranids awakened or first appeared in the Milky Way Galaxy to threaten the dominion of Humanity. At the same time, the power of Chaos began to wax strong, stretching its tendrils of corruption into every corner of the Emperor's realm and into the hearts of so many of His subjects. The era ended with the victory of Abaddon the Despoiler and the forces of Chaos in the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, with the fall of the Fortress World of Cadia and the subsequent birth of the Great Rift across the galaxy. It was succeeded by the Era Indomitus. Notable Events As the threats to the Imperium grew in the last centuries of the 41st Millennium, Humanity stood on the precipice of utter extinction. The "Time of Ending" was the era of Humanity's judgement, where faith was tested by fire and every man or woman's courage was pushed to its limits -- and well beyond. By this time, secession, rebellion, Chaos corruption and heresy were now rife within every corner of the Imperium. Sensing weakness, alien empires ancient and new to humanity's experience -- Orks, Aeldari, T'au, Necrons and perhaps worst of all, the Tyranids -- closed in from every side. Zealots ranted that the xenos were Mankind's punishment, its just consequences for straying from the Emperor's guidance. The rise of mutants and witches was yet another sign of Humanity's sin. Desperate messages from across the galaxy echoed through the Warp. Astropaths worked feverishly to pull the transmissions from the Immaterium and translate them, to sift the meaning from the garble. The messages were increasingly dire: Planetary Governors sent desperate pleas for aid, Astra Militarum officers called for reinforcements, fleet commanders issued ominous warnings of enemy starship movements. The forces of the Imperium fought with the valour of ancient heroes, defending humanity from within, without and beyond -- but they could not be everywhere at once. The Space Marines and Astra Militarum were at war as never before, even during the Horus Heresy. The news grew worse daily, the attacks on the Imperium steadily increasing. Most ominous of all, the prescient foretold of great ripples in the Warp, like a swell in the water disturbed by some colossal but unseen menace in the depths below. Fell things were gathering in that dread realm, straining as never before to break the bounds of reality. Damocles Gulf Crusade, 742-745.M41 The Imperium made official first contact with the T'au during the Damocles Gulf Crusade, also called the Damocles Crusade, which was the first military conflict fought between the Imperium of Man and the rapidly expanding T'au Empire in the Lithesh Sector of the Ultima Segmentum in the Eastern Fringes during the late 41st Millennium. The crusade was initiated after the T'au Water Caste had established trade agreements with Imperial worlds on the frontier of the T'au Empire, near the Damocles Gulf region in the galactic east, and exchanges of goods and technology were common. Alarmed by the threat of alien contamination, the Administratum readied a suitable response and almost a Terran century later, the Damocles Crusade smashed into T'au space, destroying several outlying settlements and pushing deep into the T'au Empire. When the Imperial fleet reached the T'au Sept world of Dal'yth Prime, however, the crusade ground to a bloody stalemate as the formidable numbers and high technology of the T'au and their Kroot allies thwarted every attempt to capture the world or its star system. Many solar months of terrible fighting ensued with nothing gained on either side. By late 742.M41 the crusade's commanders eventually agreed to requests from the Water Caste for peace talks. The negotiations were successful and the Imperial fleet withdrew from T'au space unmolested, primarily due to the impending approach of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Behemoth. A Foretelling, 744.M41 The Time of Ending earned its name in 744.M41 when Taggarath, the Seer of Corrinto, proclaimed the approach of the End Times. He prophesied a time of unprecedented upheaval, in which even the light of the Emperor was eventually swallowed in darkness, perhaps a premonition of the Noctis Aeterna to come. Taggarath was swiftly executed by the Inquisition for heresy -- and to keep his prophecies unknown by the wider Imperial public, but the doomsayer's cry was picked up by other psychic sensitives on planets beyond count across the human-settled galaxy. Hive Fleet Behemoth and the Battle of Macragge, 745.M41 In 745.M41 the Tyranids first entered the galaxy and the Tyrannic Wars began. Hive Fleet Behemoth destroyed the Imperial star systems of Tyran (for which the Tyranids are named) and Thandros. Later that same year, Hive Fleet Behemoth descended upon the Realm of Ultramar, the fief of the Ultramarines, laying waste to several worlds and badly damaging the Space Marines' greatest Chapter. The bold deeds done during the Battle of Macragge are one of the most enduring of the many legends of the Ultramarines. Chapter Master Marneus Calgar was gravely wounded by the horror known as the Swarmlord, and the Ultramarines' Veteran 1st Company were slain to the last man, but their sacrifice bought time for two Imperial Navy battlefleets to converge upon Macragge and finally end the Behemoth's threat. Still reeling from the terrible wounds, Imperial Commanders across the Ultima Segmentum looked to their borders with growing unease. Blood Star Campaign, 748.M41 The Blood Star Campaign unfolded in 748.M41, when the star Ares turned blood red. It heralded increased daemonic activity in the Scarus Sector. Before the brutal campaign ended, it claimed untold lives, including three Chapter Masters and the Fleet Admiral of the Segmentum Obscurus. Great Exodus, 750.M41 In 750.M41 the Great Exodus occurred. A strange swirling phenomenon in the Argos System was only a curiosity until the sudden appearance of six Aeldari craftworlds. By the time the Imperial Fleet arrived, both the swirling mass and the Aeldari were gone, yet in their passing all prime suns within sixty light years were extinguished. The Imperial Fleet and innumerable transports attempted to ferry the countless billions of Imperial citizens to neighbouring star systems, in what was the largest exodus ever attempted by the Imperium. It is estimated that nearly 12% of the population and 32% of the heavy industry of the region were safely removed. The ring of dead planets and suns is now known as the Deadhenge, a salvager's paradise and refuge of pirates. Zombie Plague, 757.M41 The year 757.M41 saw the first recorded incidence of the dread Zombie Plague erupting on the world of Hydra Minoris. A quarantine was imposed by the Imperial Navy, trapping 23 billion uninfected people alongside a rising tide of the hungry, contagious and mindless undead children of Nurgle. Aeldari Troubles, 766-795.M41 In 766.M41, many Imperial watch stations and listening posts in the Catachan and Ryza Systems are attacked by Eldar pirates under the command of Yriel. Without their early warning "eyes and ears," this leaves both star systems vulnerable for decades to come. In 783.M41 Aeldari Asuryani from the Ulthwé Craftworld destroyed an Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleet above the Dead World of Maedrax, but not before several probes were released and a distress hymnal despatched. Some solar months later, Space Marines from the Blood Angels' 3rd Company arrived at the point of the fleet's disappearance and became embroiled in the ongoing war between Ulthwé's forces and the Necrons that the Explorators inadvertently awoke on Maedrax's surface. Krandor Rebellion, 795.M41 An uprising in the Krandor System in 795.M41 was harshly put down by the 23rd Cadian Regiment. Several of the Chaos Cults involved in the rebellion, notably the followers of the Shining Deity, the Cult of Many Tentacles and the red-robed "Brotherhood," had not been seen since the Fourth Quadrant Rebellion. Although both military and civilian losses are high, the Krandor Rebellion's quick subjugation is vital. The Imperium could ill-afford to lose the resource-rich Krandor System, which held planets strategically vital to the whole of the Segmentum Obscurus. Ork Troubles, 797.M41 Throughout the Segmentum Ultima, in 797.M41, countless Ork invasions threaten to mass into a single colossal WAAAGH! The forces of the Imperium are stretched to their utmost to contain each individual war zone. Notable actions include Marneus Calgar, Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, holding the gate alone for a night and a day against the greenskin hordes during the Siege of Zalathras and the 2nd Company's utter devastation of Warboss Brug's planetary stronghold. Astronomican Weakens, 801.M41 In 801.M41 a brief flicker in the Astronomican throws thousands of ships off course, dooming them to destruction in the Warp. The incident indicates that the Emperor may be weakening. Siege of Vraks, 813-830.M41 The lamentable campaign known as the Siege of Vraks occurred from 813-830.M41. The Apostate-Cardinal Xaphan leads the Armoury World of Vraks Prime into the service of the Ruinous Powers. As the forces of the Imperium arrive to quell the rebellion, they are immediately met in battle, followed by a rapid escalation of forces on both sides. The seventeen-year-long campaign ends in a full-scale daemonic incursion and, finally, the intervention of the Ordo Malleus and the Grey Knights. By the end, Vraks is entirely laid waste, its entire population exterminated. Raid on Ildanira, 822.M41 In 822.M41 the Warmaster of Chaos Abaddon the Despoiler raids the Aeldari Maiden World of Ildanira, seeking a long-lost Chaos artefact. He is driven away by the forces of the Alaitoc Craftworld. Such an action is only minor compared to the many wars consuming the galaxy at this time, but its portents loom large in hindsight. Return to Krandor III, 853.M41 By 853.M41, the uprising against Imperial rule on Krandor III, thought to have been successfully suppressed over fifty standard years previously, had once more grown strong. Mutants, psykers and all manner of outcasts had been nurtured in darkness and corruption by the whisper of cowled Chaos Cultists. Even as the surging rebellion takes over the planet's surface, hive city by hive city, the orbital sentinel stations and moon-based defence lasers are captured by Chaos Space Marines accompanied by loathsome creatures, neither man nor mutant but wholly daemonic. Three Space Marine Chapters, led by the stoic Imperial Fists, secure resources, Imperial artefacts and a few Adeptus Administratum officials before an Exterminatus is mercifully delivered. Some 42 Astra Militarum regiments from Krandor III still exist, the only survivors of their lost and benighted world because they had been shipped to distant war zones before the rebellion began. Saint Cyllia Massacre, 863.M41 In 863.M41 the Saint Cyllia Massacre occurred when the Adamant Fury Titan Legion betrayed the Emperor and fell to Chaos. The Traitor Titan Legion turned its guns upon Loyalist regiments of the Saint Cyllian Planetary Defence Forces before making good their escape off-world. The loss of a full Titan Legion sends ripples of concern through the Imperium and great effort is exerted to find and destroy them, particularly by the Mechanicus and its Collegia Titanica. The Bloodtide, 876.M41 In 876.M41 Chaos came to the world of Van Horne in the event later known as The Bloodtide to the Inquisition. The Bloodthirster Ka'jagga'nath, Lord of the Bloodtide, broke free of his bonds and unleashed a tide of gore that corrupted everything it touched. For eight solar days and nights, the orgies of blood continue, each fresh death luring yet more daemons to the mortal world as the barrier between the Materium and the Warp breaks down on Van Horne. Only when the Grey Knights' 4th Brotherhood arrived was the Bloodtide abated, and then only at great cost. Ka'jagga'nath was cast back into the Warp. The psychic backlash also banished the Bloodtide and the daemons it had drawn forth. Battle of the Planus Steppes, 883.M41 In 883.M41 the 423rd Cadian Regiment's spearhead, led by Knight Commander Pask, was the largest armoured assault undertaken by the Imperium since the Battle of Tallarn during the Horus Heresy. Over 8,000 Imperial tank companies and 35 super-heavy tank detachments were annihilated during the nearly total destruction of the Renegade Adamant Fury Traitor Titan Legion upon the Planus Steppes. Crusade of Wrath, 888.M41 In 888.M41, during the Crusade of Wrath, the Black Templars Chapter inflicts heavy losses on the Word Bearers Traitor Legion, reclaiming several star systems previously lost in the Maelstrom. Long Midnight, 891.M41 In 891.M41 the worlds of Persya suffer attacks from Aeldari Corsairs during the Long Midnight, who swathe their targets in utter darkness before pillaging and slaughtering at will. The vicious raids only cease upon the arrival of the Praxion Patrol. First Necron Assault on Imperium, 897.M41 In 897.M41, the fortress-convent known as Sanctuary 101 is destroyed, with all the Sisters of Battle within, by the Necrons. No survivors or signs of the perpetrators are left behind. Some few savants in the Imperium begin to understand the vast threat that the awakening Necrons might become to Mankind. Hive Fleet Gorgon Approaches, 897.M41 In that same year, 897.M41, a new Tyranid menace, code-named Hive Fleet Gorgon, is spotted by Imperial outposts, heading directly for the growing T'au Empire in the Eastern Fringe. No warnings are given to the T'au of what is to befall them. The Badab War, 901-913.M41 In 901.M41 the terrible civil conflict known as the Badab War begins when Lufgt Huron, the Chapter Master of the Astral Claws Space Marines, refuses to hand over his Chapter's tithe of gene-seed to the Administratum and instead announces his secession from the Imperium, declaring himself the "Tyrant of Badab." Twelve standard years of intersystem war follow, wreaking havoc on shipping lanes in the Maelstrom Zone and embroiling more than a dozen Space Marine Chapters. With much loss, Badab Primaris finally falls to the Loyalist forces, but Lufgt Huron and some 200 of the Astral Claws escape to take refuge in the Maelstrom of the Ultima Segmentum. There, they become Heretic Astartes and change their name to the Red Corsairs. They become dreaded pirates and raiders of Imperial commerce. Huron adopts the title of "Blackheart" and continues to recruit more Astartes Renegades to join his growing Chaos empire. Ork Activity Increases, 907.M41 In 907.M41 Ork WAAAGH! activity rises throughout all five Segmentums of the Imperium, forcing the Novamarines, Raptors and Howling Griffons to be redeployed away from the Badab War to counter the growing greenskin threat. Sack of Jollana, 913.M41 In 913.M41 the disciples of the Thousand Sons Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman sack the Librarium on the world of Jollana. Attack on the Black Ships, 920.M41 In 920.M41 Aeldari pirates attack the advance Escort of a fleet of Black Ships as they exit Warpspace in the Thanos System. The pirates destroyed three Frigates and captured the troopship Emperor's Faithful. The pirates quickly disappeared, taking with them a vast complement of Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy personnel. As a result, the fleet of Black Ships is left vulnerable and is picked off one by one in further raids. The Worldengine, 925.M41 In 925.M41, the Necron Worldengine is revealed as the architect of the destruction of the Vidar Sector. It is finally destroyed, thanks chiefly to the sacrifice of the entire Astral Knights Chapter. Vaxhallan Genocide, 926.M41 In 926.M41 during the Vaxhallan Genocide, a Chaos Space Marine warband known as The Purge slaughtered over 14 billion Imperial citizens and claimed the planet Vaxhall as their own. Vaxhall served as an Astropath relay hub and as an Imperial Fortress World, the buttress of the Herakles System. Empire of the Red Corsairs, 937.M41 In 937.M41 Inquisitor Pranix led 5 companies of Space Wolves and units of the 301st Cadian and the 14th Tallarn Astra Militarum regiments in an attempt to reclaim the 9 Hollow Worlds from the clutches of the Chaos Lord Huron Blackheart and his Red Corsairs warband. The Imperium's forces are stunned to see how quickly the Red Corsairs have expanded and how vast their Renegade empire of pirates has grown. Second War for Armageddon, 941-943.M41 In 941.M41 the Second War for Armageddon began when the largest and most powerful Ork in millennia, the Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, led a vast WAAAGH! that, after much rampaging, met its match upon Armageddon, a Hive World of vital strategic importance to the Imperium in the Segmentum Solar. The Orks are defeated only by the stubborness of the defenders, the combined might of three Space Marines Chapters and the legendary heroics of Commissar Yarrick. Ghazghkull escapes and vows to return one day. The Enemy of My Enemy, 963.M41 In 963.M41 the Imperium ran afoul of the T'au Empire when the Ultramarines clashed with a T'au expeditionary fleet for control of the cursed planet of Malbede. When the conflict awakened the Necrons whose tombs were hidden beneath Malbede's surface, the Ultramarines joined the T'au in a temporary alliance to defeat the emerging Necrons. In the wake of the battle, Exterminatus was proclaimed on Malbede by the Ultramarines' Chapter Master Marneus Calgar, but he generously allows the T'au to evacuate before the surface of the planet is destroyed. The planet's destruction sets off a brief flicker of unknown energy on dozens of planets throughout the galaxy. Many fear that more Tomb Worlds are awakening. Unfortunately, the Imperium of Man now finds itself facing two more alien enemies -- the humanoid T'au who seek to expand their growing interstellar empire to "serve the Greater Good" and the Necrons who seek to reestablish their galaxy-wide empire of ages past. Plague Ship, 969.M41 In 969.M41 the ancient starship Blade of Eternity was once again sighted, this time near the Cando System. As it was approached, the ship was mysteriously replaced by the infamous Death Guard plague ship Terminus Est. The Zombie Plague sweeps across the system. Infected refugees carry the Chaos foulness far and wide across the Imperium. Infernal Dreams, 973.M41 In 973.M41 a violent Warp Storm troubles the dreams of people across the galaxy -- for those more psychically aware, the storms proved catastrophic. Nightmares cracked the barrier between realspace and the Warp, slaying many psykers and creating rifts between the Immaterium and reality. Although brief, thousands of daemonic incursions cause untold damage and many dark seeds of corruption are planted. Curse of Lutoris Epsilon, 975.M41 In 975.M41 the Bloodthirster Skarbrand materialised on the Cadian Fortress World of Lutoris Epsilon. His berserk rage infected all he surveyed and soon the fortifications were drenched in blood as the Imperial Guardsmen turned upon each other in crazed bloodlust. Lutoris has since been considered cursed and is currently classified as a quarantined Forbidden World by the Inquisition. Greenskin Assault on Ryza, 976.M41 In 976.M41 a massive Ork invasion smashed into the western sector of the Segmentum Ultima. WAAAGH! Grax is denied taking the Forge World of Ryza, but the surrounding sectors suffer great devastation. Invvasion of Rynn's World, 989-991.M41 In 989.M41 WAAAGH! Snagrod rampages across the Loki Sector, culminating in an assault on Rynn's World that nearly wipes out the venerated Crimson Fists Chapter of Space Marines when an unfortunate accident destroys their fortress-monastery. Imperial forces retake the Agri-world in 991.M41 and the Crimson Fists begin the long process of rebuilding the Chapter back to full strength. Though the Orks were finally driven off Rynn's World, Chapter Master Pedro Kantor declines the opportunity for pursuit, instead throwing his efforts into rebuilding the Crimson Fists to their former glory. Snagrod himself escapes, and proceeds to wreak further havoc across the sector. Battle of Aurent, 992.M41 In 992.M41 Eldar forces attack Cadian holdings on the world of Aurent, only to be utterly defeated through the inspired tactical genius of Ursarkar E. Creed. Second Tyrannic War, 993.M41 In 993.M41 the Ultramarines crushed a rebellion on the industrial world of Ichar IV, only to find themselves in the forefront of a desperate defence against the arrival of the Tyranids' Hive Fleet Kraken. Elsewhere, the Aeldari Craftworld Iyanden was simultaneously ravaged by other tendrils of the Kraken. Two Space Marine Chapters -- the Scythes of the Emperor and the Lamenters -- were all but wiped out by the hive fleet and hundreds of Imperial worlds were lost to the ravenous Tyranids before the incursion later known as the Second Tyrannic War was finally halted. Third Tyrannic War, 997.M41 In 138.997.M41 humanity peers into the abyss when the twin tendrils of Hive Fleet Leviathan emerged from intergalactic space and strike at the underbelly of the Imperium from below the galactic plane, cutting a swathe of truly horrific destruction through Segmentum Tempestus, Ultima and Solar in what is sometimes called the Third Tyrannic War. It becomes clear that the two previous Tyranid incursions into the galaxy were only reconnaissance expeditions for the main hive fleet. From Macragge to Ultima Macharia, the forces of the Imperium hurry to confront this new threat, leaving many sectors open to attack by other enemies. Ghazghkull Returns, 997.M41 In 221.997.M41 the world of Piscina IV is invaded by Orks under the joint leadership of Ghazghkull Thraka and the Bad Moons Warboss Nazdreg. Orkish teleportation technology is employed in a surprise attack and only the stout defence commanded by Master Belial of the Dark Angels Chapter and the timely arrival of reinforcements ends the Ork threat. Although the Imperial victory is great, several Imperial commanders, including Belial, feel that Ghazghkull has another trick up his sleeve. Battle of Tarsis Ultra, 997.M41 In 509.997.M41 elements from the Ultramarines and Mortifactors Space Marine Chapters make a stand against one spur of Hive Fleet Leviathan on the world of Tarsis Ultra. The defenders defeat this tendril with the use of a genetically-engineered biological plague, but the remainder of the enormous hive fleet rampages on unaffected. Battle of Golgotha, 997.M41 In 601.997.M41 Ghazghkull Thraka comes face-to-face with his old human nemesis, Commissar Yarrick, on the battlefields of the world of Golgotha. Yarrick is captured by the Orks but ultimately released as Warlord Ghazghkull is planning to invade Armageddon once more and wants to ensure a good fight. Greenskins flock to Ghazghkull's WAAAGH! in even greater numbers. Third Sphere Expansion, 997.M41 In 977.997.M41 the small but vibrant T'au Empire begins its Third Sphere Expansion. The T'au forcibly captured half a dozen more Imperial worlds on the Eastern Fringe near the Damocles Gulf and several more joined the T'au Empire willingly as Gue'vesa to serve their Greater Good. The war with the T'au suffered several lulls and escalations and the xenos showed no sign of relenting in their drive for further expansion even as Imperial resistance increased in the region. Cryptus Campaign, 998.M41 As Hive Fleet Leviathan moved ever closer towards their Chapter homeworld of Baal, the Blood Angels mobilised to stop the Tyranids in the Cryptus System. Also known as the "Cryptan Shield," the binary system served as a primary strategic defence of the approaches to Baal. The Blood Angels and their Successor Chapters were forced to forge an alliance with the Necrons of the Mephrit Dynasty to unleash an Exterminatus-class Necron weapon known as the Magnovitrium across the system. The ancient weapon ignited the core of the gas giant Aeros, unleashing a miniature supernova which scoured the Tyranids from the system, though also at the cost of many Imperial lives. But the Leviathan was only delayed by this campaign, and continued its inexorable movement towards Baal. Third War for Armageddon, 998.M41 In 757.998.M41 Ghazghkull Thraka finally returned to Armageddon for his long awaited rematch in the Third War for Armageddon at the head of a new, even greater Ork WAAAGH!. Ghazghkull had further perfected the teleportation technology that he experimented with on Piscina IV and began the campaign with devastating victories over the Imperial defenders. Imperial Commanders, having learnt from their previous encounters with this wily Ork warlord, committed massive numbers of troops and quickly sent out the call for the aid of nearby Space Marine Chapters and further reinforcements. Several solar months into what rapidly became a battle of attrition, Ghazghkull grew bored with the grinding stalemate that had developed and left his minions behind to finish the fight while he set off to conquer the surrounding planets. He was pursued by Commissar Yarrick and the Black Templars, who swore an oath to finally bring the greenskin commander to heel. Octarius War, 999.M41 In 718.999.M41 Hive Fleet Leviathan invaded the large Ork Empire based in the Octarius System, unleashing the Octarius War. The battle between Tyranids and greenskins raged on with no signs of stopping. Imperial Navy scout patrols kept a close eye on the conflict, for should a victor emerge, there were precious few forces of the Imperium on hand to counter whichever enemy should arise out of the sector-wide bloodbath. Battle for the Hellfire Stone, 999.M41 In 884.999.M41 the Dark Angels' 5th Company battles elements of the Crimson Slaughter Chaos Space Marine warband for the control of the artefact known as the Hellfire Stone. The Nephilim Sector trembles as the hated foes clash... Astronomican Weakens Further, 999.M41 In 975.999.M41 the light of the Astronomican grows noticeably dimmer, while contact is lost with Ultima Macharia and is intermittent with Macragge and Cypra Mundi. Some Imperial savants theorise that this is because of delays and losses amongst the Black Ships, while others point to omens of impending doom and the weakening of the Emperor. Drukhari Raid on Bakka, 999.M41 In 978.999.M41 Drukhari raiders cripple the massive Imperial Navy moorings at Bakka, leaving many Imperial star systems vulnerable to attack. Battle of Chogoris, 999.M41 In 980.999.M41 the Red Corsairs launched a major raid from out of the Maelstrom into the Yasan Sector, bringing the Chogoris, Kaelas, Gartuli, Thaxis and Sessec Systems under siege. Rumours reported that Huron Blackheart had grown his group of Renegades as large as the full Space Marine Legions of ancient times. The Chaos Lord now wields military power unseen since the time of the Heresy. The Great Awakening, 999.M41 In 982.999.M41 "The Great Awakening" occurs, when a ripple of psychic activity passes through the Imperium, awakening the dormant powers of countless latent psykers. The resulting backlash creates innumerable Warp rifts and a thousand worlds are lost, hopelessly embroiled in daemonic incursions. Necrons Strike Cypra Segentus, 999.M41 In 987.999.M41 the Necrons rise to strike the Cypra Segentus System -- the first recorded Necron attacks within only 2,000 light years of Terra. War of the Rising Sons, 999.M41 In 989.999.M41 the Ultramarines' 3rd Company liberates the Lagan System from the T'au Empire during the conflict known as the "War of the Rising Sons." Even while they do so, several key worlds of the neighbouring Dolmac System capitulate without firing a shot to T'au ambassadors and join the T'au Empire. Devastation of the Octarius Belt, 999.M41 In 990.999.M41 the Devastation of the Octarius Belt occurs when Aeldari from the Biel-Tan and the Saim-Hann Craftworlds assault many worlds surrounding the Octarius System with the intent of denying crucial biological resources to Hive Fleet Leviathan. Many are Ork-held worlds, but quite a few were colonised by the humans of the Imperium. The loss of human life is substantial, as is the loss of tithes that the planets would have paid to the Imperium in its time of need. Night of a Thousand Rebellions, 999.M41 In 992.999.M41, the Night of a Thousand Rebellions occurs. Uprisings and discord strike countless planets across the Imperium. Unrest races like wildfire, consuming many outlying planets, but also supposedly secure worlds like Enceladus, Darkhold, and Minisotira. Even the homeworld of the Lions Defiant Space Marine Chapter is lost to anarchy caused by secret cults and frenetic agitators. Contact is lost between Terra and large swathes of the Segmentum Pacificus. Astropaths Overwhelmed, 999.M41 In 993.999.M41, wave after wave of astropathic pleas for help flood at once from all across the galaxy, though there is only an eerie silence from the Segmentum Pacificus. So powerful is the influx, so overbearing is the psychic current, that the Adeptus Astra Telepathica suffers serious personnel losses amongst their Astropaths. Whole choirs collapse at once, driven mad or slain outright, their minds bursting. Vast breakdowns in Imperial communications ensue, increasing both anarchy and panic as the endless psychic screams for help echo across time and space. Siege of the Fenris System, 999.M41 In 999.M41 the Thousand Sons effected their return to realspace when the Legion launched the Siege of the Fenris System in ca. 999.M41. The attack drew the Space Wolves back to defend their homeworld, allowing the sons of Magnus the Red to wreak vengeance upon them. The scions of Leman Russ were forced to join with their longtime rivals the Dark Angels and other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes to cleanse their system of all Chaos taint. But first they had to overcome a plot of Tzeentch unleashed by its daemonic servant the Changeling intended to make the Dark Angels think that the Space Wolves had fallen to the Ruinous Powers. Unnatural footsoldiers from the entire Chaos pantheon joined in the slaughter before Magnus himself stepped forth from the Warp onto the surface of Fenris, there to face the Chapter that had thought to execute his sons on Prospero ten thousand years before. Space Wolves, Dark Angels and Grey Knights champions fell to Magnus' psychic might, their minds and bodies dashed to particulate matter. But the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar was able to land a blow on the Crimson King, allowing the Daemon Hunters of the Grey Knights to work their rites of banishment. Though the invasion was driven back, its purpose had been achieved. The psychic anguish of a billion deaths rippled through the Immaterium, providing the final component in a ritual millennia in the making. The power taken from the worlds of the Space Wolves saturated the Thousand Sons homeworld in the Eye of Terror, the Planet of the Sorcerers. It vanished from the Warp only to burst violently into realspace, appearing near the burnt husk of lost Prospero. The old and new homeworlds of the Thousand Sons now orbit the same cursed star -- a star that has become an omen of doom in the skies throughout the Imperium. Baal Prepares for Invasion, 999.M41 In 999.M41 the Blood Angels are tested as never before. A tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan is judged to be on a direct course for their homeworld of Baal even in the wake of the delaying action successfully unleashed during the Cryptus Campaign of 998.M41. Worse, the dread Bloodthirster Ka'Bandha returns from the darkness of the Warp with a daemon army at his command, his first blow striking against Ammonai, outermost planet of the Baal System. Faced with a terrible war on at least two fronts, Lord Commander Dante of the Blood Angels makes swift preparation, uniting many Imperial and non-human worlds under the banner of survival. Even some former foes can be counted in Dante's alliance, though whether or not they can be entirely trusted is another matter. 13th Black Crusade, 999.M41 In 995.999.M41, Abaddon the Despoiler, the Warmaster of Chaos, launched the 13th Black Crusade out of the Eye of Terror with the intent to seize the world of Cadia and the surrounding worlds of the Cadian Gate it defends. This would allow the forces of Chaos to assault the heart of the Imperium for the first time since the Horus Heresy. The forces of the Chaos Gods read like a roll call from epic battles of past ages. Always in the vanguard are the Black Legion, followed by the Death Guard, World Eaters, Alpha Legion, Thousand Sons, Night Lords and others from the annals of the Imperium's blackest days. Legions and Renegade Chapters of Space Marines long thought extinct renew their assaults on the realm of the hated Corpse Emperor. Before them run infected, plague-ridden Chaos Cultists, deranged mutants and traitorous scum in numbers too great to be counted. Behind them tower Daemon Princes, Daemonhosts and other Warp creatures eager for the slaughter to be found in the mortal realm. Astropaths everywhere cringe to open their minds to receive messages, for the Empyrean rings with mind-splitting peals, possibly the sound of the myriad tears ripping in the barrier between the Materium and the Warp, or perhaps it is simply the laughter of the Dark Gods. The Imperium is forced to mobilise the largest military force in its history since the Heresy to meet the massive Chaos assault. After a gruelling campaign with a death toll that spirals into the trillions, Abaddon the Despoiler succeeds in tearing down the strange pylons that for millions of standard years had held the Cadian Gate as a stable region of space by using the damaged Blackstone Fortress Will of Eternity as an artificial meteorite to assault the Fortress World. Despite the best efforts of the Imperium's staunchest defenders -- including the Black Templars, Imperial Fists, Dark Angels and Space Wolves -- the Fortress World of Cadia, lynchpin of the defences surrounding the Cadian Gate, eventually falls and a wave of Warp Storms roars into being across the length of the galaxy. Though reinforcements continue to arrive for both sides, Imperial forces begin a great exodus while battles still rage throughout the sector. Strange events, the appearance of the ancient Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl and a cryptic alliance with a mysterious Aeldari religious faction known as the Ynnari conspire to awaken the Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman from his millennia-long slumber in a stasis chamber during the Ultramar Campaign of the 13th Black Crusade. The Primarch is immediately embroiled in battle as a Chaos assault by the Black Legion as Abaddon attempts to prevent his return, though Guilliman successfully drives the servants of the Dark Gods from Ultramar, for a time. Terran Crusade, 999.M41 Guilliman embarked upon the successful Terran Crusade through many tribulations to return to Terra and meet with his father the Emperor for the first time in ten thousand standard years. What passes between them is unknown, but when he emerges from the Imperial Palace, Guilliman initiates plans for Imperial survival, such as the creation of the Primaris Space Marines, that he first set into motion in the days immediately after the end of the Horus Heresy. The Great Devourer Comes, 999.M41 But even as Cadia falls and a Primarch returns to the Imperium, the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan march ever closer to Terra, drawn by the light and power of the Astronomican in the Warp inevitably towards the heart of the Imperium. The heroism of the Space Marines and the Inquisition manage to slow down the progression of the massive hive fleet, but its ultimate objective is never in doubt. Threat to the Throne, 999.M41 With doom looming over the Imperium, the Adeptus Mechanicus learned a terrifying secret in 986.999.M41: the mechanisms of the Golden Throne have begun to fail and they no longer possess the knowledge required to repair that ancient piece of technology. Unless something can be done, the God-Emperor will die and then humanity will face the coming darkness alone... Sources *''Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines'' (8th Edition), pp. 16-17 *''Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook'' (8th Ediiton), pp. 40-47, 50-53, 123, 134, 152, 164-166 *''Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook'' (6th Edition), pp. 168-177 *''Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook'' (5th Edition), pp. 122-129 *Warhammer 40,000 Timeline *''Dark Imperium'' (Novel) by Guy Haley *''Shield of Baal: Exterminatus'' (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), "Into the Jaws of Death," "The Death of Worlds," "The Rising Leviathan" *''War Zone Fenris - Book 2: Wrath of Magnus'' (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), "Turning Point," "The Fires of Flameheit," "The Serpent and the Wolf" *''Gathering Storm - Part One - Fall of Cadia'' (7th Edition), pp. 12-13, 16, 20, 22-23, 26-33, 35-37, 40-42, 44, 48-49,52-53, 58-60, 62-65, 68-69, 72-78, 80-86, 88 *''Gathering Storm - Part Three - Rise of the Primarch'' (7th Edition), pp. 4-93 Category:T Category:Chronology Category:History Category:Imperial History Category:Imperium Category:Timeline